Two guilty of John Anslow prison van escape plot

Alleged murderer John Anslow, 33, was en route to court in Stafford on January 23 2012 when he was sprung from his secure van by balaclava-clad men wielding sledgehammers and a shotgun, Woolwich Crown Court heard

Two West Midlands men have been found guilty of conspiring to break a "ruthless and resourceful criminal" out of custody after prison staff took short-cuts with security, a court official has confirmed.

Anslow, who has admitted conspiring to escape from custody, had moments earlier left HMP Hewell, near Redditch in Worcestershire.

The prison van from which John Anslow escaped in January 2012

Six people stood trial accused of conspiring to free Anslow, who was classed as a flight risk and smuggled materials out of prison after guards failed to perform full checks.

Stuart Reid, 52, from Coventry, and Robert Riddell, 41, from Birmingham, were convicted by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court, a court spokeswoman said.

Ben O'Reilly, 30, also from Birmingham, was discharged after being found not guilty, while the jury will continue its deliberations on Anslow's partner Samantha Glover and two other defendants, Daniel Morgan and Craig Wright, the spokeswoman added.

During the seven-week trial, prosecutor Michael Burrows QC described Anslow, of Tipton, West Midlands, as "a ruthless and resourceful criminal who arranged his own escape with help from others".

He said Anslow was strip-searched and asked to squat by an officer on the morning he escaped, but he should then have been made to sit on a special chair used to scan prisoners for electrical devices.

"That morning, none of the prisoners were scanned in that way," Mr Burrows said.

"One of the prison officers says of that 'it was staff just short-cutting the process to make it quicker'.

"John Anslow was an E-lister (escape risk); following his search he should have been put in a holding cell on his own.

"But that morning, he wasn't.

"He was put in a holding cell with at least 10 other prisoners who were also going to court that morning."

As his prison van was driven out of the jail's grounds, a Volkswagen Scirocco pulled in front of it and three men got out and launched an attack, the court previously heard.

Mr Burrows told the jury that, in the moments beforehand, another inmate who was also being transferred began asking Julie Curran, a prison officer escorting them, whether they were on camera, where they were going first and if there was another van in front of them.

Mr Burrows said: "His questions prompted her to say to John Anslow, who was the E-lister at risk of escape, 'Bloody hell, John, you ain't got nobody to hold this van up, have you?'"

Once the van was attacked, the driver was pulled out of his seat and punched in the face by one of the attackers while another pointed what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun at him.

Anslow told Miss Curran to let him go.

He fled while still wearing handcuffs.

Anslow was arrested in north Cyprus on March 14 this yearand deported to the UK.

Four other people admitted conspiring to free Anslow, the jury was previously told.